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Tuesday 01 October 2024

Research culture change in the spotlight with national prize

An inspirational researcher developer has been praised for her impact on culture change.

Dr Julie Reeves designs professional development interventions across the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton (UHS).

She is based in the University’s Centre for Higher Education Practice (CHEP).

Dr Reeves has played a pivotal role in the design and delivery of the UHS Research Leaders Programme (RLP).

Her work has been recognised at the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference 2024. The global gathering was held in Birmingham on Monday 23rd September.

Building a research culture

Researcher developers contribute to the creation and development of a research culture. This involves delivering training and development programmes, such as the RLP, to support researchers.

Dr Reeves designed LaunchPad2Leadership, a training programme for RLP awardees that enables them to be inclusive research leaders. She also wrote the RLP handbook.

Outstanding contribution

This month, she was presented with the Vitae Impact, Culture, and Engagement Award for Outstanding Contribution to researcher development.

The award is made annually to recognise and celebrates someone who has delivered a lasting and exceptional impact for their institution or the sector as a whole. It is sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, UKRI and The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network.

Dr Reeves said: “The RLP afforded me a significant opportunity to work with a fantastic team of people and participants, and to contribute to the UHS strategy, and this programme was cited by the nominators. Everyone involved with the RLP is sharing this award with me!”

What is the RLP?

The UHS RLP provides awardees time, training and personal development to take the next steps in their research career. It covers salary costs for at least one day a week (20% whole time equivalent) for up to three years.

The programme is open to all healthcare professionals substantively employed by UHS. This includes nurses, midwives, pharmacists, allied health professionals, clinical scientists and doctors. It is managed by the Southampton Academy of Research (SoAR).

Dr Kristin Veighey, RLP Lead at UHS, said: “Our team is delighted that Julie has been awarded this recognition for her work championing research culture change. Julie continually challenges us and the RLP cohort members to be true to our individual and organisational values. It is a privilege to have her valuable knowledge and experience as part of our team.”